Price: £1.70 for a box of 6 (08/12/2024)
These are Sainsbury’s standard mince pies for the 2024 festive season, sitting below their premium Taste the Difference Mince Pies in their range. The packaging describes them as ‘butter enriched shortcrust pastry cases with a mincemeat filling’. They are suitable for vegetarians and they do contain palm oil. The lids are decorated with a Christmas tree design.
Nutritionally, these Mince Pies by Sainsbury’s stand out from the field as having less sugar content than most of their competitors. At only 22.3g of sugar per 100g of pie, they rate significantly below the average for the mince pies that we have tested, so perhaps they are one of the healthier options.
Cold Taste Test
The pastry on these Mince Pies by Sainsbury’s is a bit of a mixed bag. The pastry lids are nice, crisp and crumbly but, by contrast, the pastry in the sides and base is a bit soggy from the mincemeat juice and leaves a lot to be desired. The mincemeat did meet with my unequivocal approval. It’s a tasty recipe with plenty of big juicy pieces of vine fruit and it’s definitely one of the better mincemeats to be found in any of the non-premium mince pie varieties.
Hot Taste Test
A quick blast in the microwave really didn’t do anything to affect my view of the pasty. It was still a case of ‘lid good, bottom and sides stodgy’, The warmed up mincemeat was even more of a treat, however, than when it was cool. So much fruity goodness!
Verdict
Overall, as supermarket standard range mince pies go, these Mince Pies by Sainsbury’s are some of the better ones. The mincemeat is great and the pastry is good in places. It’s a shame they are let down by stodgy sides or they would be a real contender. That said, they have enough going for them to be recommended as a decent option for anyone who isn;t buying a premium variety.
Nutrition
Typical values (per 100g):
- Energy: 400 kcal
- Fat: 15.5 g
- Saturates: 6.2 g
- Carbohydrate: 60.3 g
- Of which sugars: 22.3 g
- Fibre : 1.7 g
- Protein: 3.9 g
- Salt: 0.34 g